The Ties That Bind
by StreetLightSaint
Summary: Slash. Eventual Kevin/Javier. In a nutshell Kevin has family troubles. Did I mention those family troubles happend to be Irish mob family troubles? No?
1. Chapter 1

**The Ties That Bind**

**1**

"**What's Wrong With Kevin?"**

Detective Ryan sat at his desk numbly staring at the face on his computer screen. The face was that of an older man, in his late fifties but carrying it well. Sharp blue Eyes peered out from the rugged face, his whole appearance almost noble if it weren't for the glaring fact the photo was a mug shot. This man was a murder suspect; his file had been sent over by organized crime the moment his prints popped up on the crime scene. His name was Rory O'Ryan, the head of the most prominent New York Irish mob family. That fact was well-known. The fact that wasn't well known, narrowed down to three people, was that notorious mobster Rory O'Ryan was the father of one Detective Kevin Ryan.

Kevin made it his business to be informed on _the_ "business", so he always knew where he stood and by his own design he stood very far away. Police weren't the most open-minded of individuals, Kevin would know. When his father found out he was becoming a cop he hadn't said a word, the man just hugged his son. What the hell was he supposed to do with that? Rory O'Ryan was a charming family man who happened to smuggle and murder for a living, well, that's how he seemed to come off as. Kevin could never really be charmed. Not by the expensive gifts, the man's attempts to get to know him over their twice a year family dinner, or the way all the mechanics in the city mysteriously wanted to fix his car for free. No, he was always painfully aware that half the dead bodies floating down the East River were there because of his own father.

Now he was exactly where he'd spent his entire professional career making he sure he would never get. Torn was one word to describe it though it seemed from his perspective…insufficient. A resounding bang behind him made him jump nearly out of his char. Esposito smiled ear from ear, the stacks of old case files formed a small tower on the corner of the desk. They all had one name in common: Rory O'Ryan. Kevin grimaced, equally over the amount of work it would take going through all those damned things and at the idea of having to lie to his partner. Esposito noticed the shift in his partner, he noticed everything about his partner, his smile disappeared and he frowned, "You okay, bro?"

"Y-yeah, just need some coffee." The other detective nodded appreciatively. This case had everyone tense as hell, nothing but chasing ghosts leading to dead ends. The O'Ryan family was their best bet but no one was talking. Of all the families in New York it had to be the O'Ryan, people either feared them or respected them too much to help the police. Stress was building and to top it all off Esposito had to worry about his partner. 'Course the guy said he was okay, that's what guys did, but Javier knew better. Kevin was hiding something from him and he had to admit, it kinda hurt. Alright, it hurt a lot.

Esposito knew his feelings were irrational. He liked women, no, he _loved_ women. Every beautiful curve, every soft expanse of skin, suffice to say Javier Esposito was not gay. So why every time Ryan smiled did his heart beat a little faster? Why then did he randomly get the urge to run his hands through his hair? To trace those gorgeous cheekbones down his jaw to his neck? Javier Esposito was not gay, he just happened to be in love with his partner. His _married_, _male_ partner. One guy did not count as gay, he'd tested it. The whole experience was awkward but proved what he thought, not gay, just happened to be in love with one man in particular. At this point he almost wished he had been full-on gay, maybe it would make it less painful. Because this _sucked_. The dreams, the feeling of boiling acid he got every time he saw Ryan and Jenny together, all of it. And damn that girl and her sense of style. Esposito missed the bulky suits and horrible ties. Now Ryan wore clothes that fit him so goddamned well, too well. Sometimes it was hard not to stare. Like for instance, right now.

Ryan had that focused look on his face, he got that way sometimes when he was chasing down a train of thought, the rest of the world melted away for those few minutes. His bright blues blinked and he was there with Esposito again. Javier secretly thought it was adorable but it also worried him.

"Bro, you can tell me anything. You know that." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah bro, I know that. Really I'm fine." Ryan gave him a bright smile and stood up, "I think I'm going to get that coffee now, you want?"

"Nah, I'm good."

Ryan nodded, maybe he was in a hurry to get out of the line of fire, maybe he really did want a coffee. Ryan settled somewhere in between. He was a terrible liar. Being a bad liar should have been a good quality in a cop, and it was, it was a less desirable trait in the secret son of a mob boss.

Castle was already making his own cup sweet caffeinated goodness when Ryan blew into the break room. The writer took one look at the young detective and sighed; morosely he offered the fresh cup to Ryan who grabbed it while mumbling a thank you and sat in the far corner of the room. Odd. Ryan was usually more open, it made him instantly likeable. The guy obviously wanted to be alone and Castle wasn't too keen on doing that but Beckett was about to interrogate a low level runner for the O'ryan family and he always had to be there when Beckett did her thing. He made a mental note to hassle Ryan after though.

Kevin could physically see the not-so-inner turmoil on Castle's face and let out a breath of relief when he made a beeline for Beckett who was walking to the interrogation room. This could get rough. He'd never been directly involved with any case with anybody in the family as a suspect, he never cut any favors or looked the other way. Maybe he could speak to Beckett about it, she always understood and would try to keep it under wraps. But somebody somewhere would be getting lied to. Somebody would be getting hurt. He didn't know what to do.

Esposito took one last look at his partner through the break room windows before turning back to his desk. Glancing at Kevin's desk he moved from his own and flopped down in his partner's seat. No one batted an eye at this; the two often were in each other's belongings, to see Esposito at Ryan's desk was nothing new. He moved the mouse so the screen went from black to the precinct's homepage. Only one page was open, clicking on it he found it to be Rory O'Ryan's file. But there was nothing on anyone else and nothing else open. This entire time his partner had been going through this one file. Did that have something to do with his odd behavior? Esposito resolved that whatever was wrong he would find out and he would damn well fix it.

**A/N:** So this idea's been rattling around in my brain for a little while and I'm not really sure where I'm going to go with it, if anywhere. Anyways you like?


	2. Chapter 2

2

"No seriously, what the hell is wrong with Kevin?"

By the book. The phrase and Kevin's reputation in homicide were near synonymous, to the sometimes ire of his own team. Rules were important to him, they were the clear outline of society that kept order, that allowed _him_ to keep order. He only ever did what he thought was right. And being the one to make that call was never easy. Kevin thought he did the best he could. When he was younger and looking down the barrel of his own future and the possibility of how dark that future could be he went the other way. As a detective and as someone with "by the book" ingrained into his very soul, Kevin couldn't _not _tell Beckett. It would be flying in the face of the way he tried to live his entire life. He resolved he would, whenever the opportune moment presented itself. Definitely, totally would. Beckett sat quietly at her desk, elegant fingers tipping back a cup of espresso with a look of lazy concentration on her face. Castle was yet to arrive for the morning and Espo was nowhere in sight or earshot. Kevin took a tentative step toward his fearless leader, he was directly in front of her when her desk phone rang making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"Right." Beckett replied over the phone with her all business voice, "Yeah I know where that is, get a couple of uniforms up there I'll see you in five." She shot Ryan a curious look before hanging up. "We got another body."

"Oh thank God."

Another look, "Kev, are you okay?"

"What? Yes. Fine. Let's go." Kevin marched passed her with all the determination of Inigo Montoya, already fishing out his cell from his pants pocket.

* * *

Lanie pulled her dark blue NYPD windbreaker tighter around her shoulders. The early beginnings of autumn already too brisk for her tastes, at the very least the cool weather prevented the currently decomposing body not to smell too horrible. Castle was already swaggering up next to her ogling the remains, Beckett trailing not far behind. He managed to mind the blood pool this time.

"What do we got Lanie?" They asked simultaneously.

Lanie smirked, "So cute when you two do that."

Castle was downright pleased by her proclamation making Beckett roll her eyes. "Anyway, the way it went down is pretty obvious. Vic was shot in the back of the head, bullet exited his nasal cavity."

She gestured toward the vic's face, the gruesome exit wound took out his entire nose and part of his upper lip. Lanie had seen worse.

The writer leaned in further, "Execution style."

"You might not be so off this time Castle." Said Esposito, he'd just dismissed the two construction workers that found the guy.

"When am I ever off?"

"Pshht, whatever, man. ID'd the guy as Liam McPherson, enforcer for one Collin Murphy."

"Boss of the first victim?"

"One in the same."

"So—"

"Someone is cleaning house or we're on a brink of an all-out war." Said Kevin surprising all but Espo who had gotten used to him popping out of nowhere over the years.

Beckett bit her lip, the implications of a war was bad. Above and beyond bad. "We need to get out in front of this. You two make sure we get that bullet and keep working on finding O'Ryan, we're going to talk to Murphy."

Kevin watched them leave, unconsciously clicking the pen he'd been taking notes with over and over until Javi reached out to stop it with a washy look of irritation on his face.

"Bro—"

"I'm fine…can I have my hand back now?"

Javier dropped Kevin's hand suddenly, the tips of his ears burning hot. Kevin wasn't even looking him now and in all honesty it was starting to piss him off. Whatever was bothering Irish was going to have to get ironed out real fucking soon or Javier may have to do something drastic. That was as far has his plan went at the moment, drastic, the details were fuzzy but he'd get there. This was usually Kevin's type of thing, the said detective was already helping the uniforms scour the area. Espo shrugged it off for now in favor of getting some work done but for the rest of the day he felt the tension roll off Ryan in hurricanes.

* * *

Ryan parked his car on the second floor of the parking garage two streets over from his apartment. There'd been talk of finding a nicer bigger place but he'd been purposely dragging his feet. Kevin loved his place, his stupid red couch, that one window that actually had view, the stain in the shape of Delaware that Javi caused in the wake of his crushing defeat via Madden. It smelled like coffee, hardwood, and comfort. Ryan loathed to leave it. He sighed, the air cold enough now at night he could see his breath. The walk wasn't what Kevin minded, it was the cold. Ever since the whole attempted drowning in a metal tub of ice water thing could anyone one really blame him if he shivered a t little more easily now?

Just as the chill was slithering into his bones a black town car rolled up next him before he started toward a crosswalk. Of course it was New York, there tended to be cars roaming around, this one was different. Ryan began to walk around it but the car pulled closer to him, not a threatening jerk of tires instead it was more of a gentle 'hey, look at me'. A cold stone of apprehension settled into Kevin's stomach. He turned to the driver's side window ready to yell something he learned in an Irish bar when he was eleven. The driver's window didn't roll down though, the window to the back did. He smelled a mix of coffee, whiskey, and faint smoke.

"Are you going to get in, son? Rather cold out there."

Kevin froze a fraction of a second before doing what he was told. He opened the car door and got a lovely blast of warmth from the heaters and settled down into the dark leather seats. The man next to him was dressed in formal wear; he had a waistcoat but no jacket, and sipped on a coffee mug that said world's best boss.

The detective cleared his throat, too bad he couldn't tell Beckett he found Rory. "How ya been dad?"

A/N: Kevin played a mob guy a little too well in Wild Rover, ne? I'm planning on making it a bit more slashier in later chapters, and yup there will be later chapters I promise. Thank you all for the reviews!


	3. Chapter 3

**The Ties that Bind**

**3**

"What is the technical definition of kidnapping?"

Rory O'Ryan made his name when he was nineteen working under infamous ol' Jimmy Coonan. Coonan was a violent, miserable bastard, Rory would tell you that himself, but he was a _loyal_ violent, miserable bastard. The old man rewarded cunning and obedience, or if you were cunning enough to appear obedient in Rory's case. Within a year he met his wife via Coonan and had his first son all the while consolidating power, shoring resources, and generally being a devious little shit. After Coonan's not entirely unforeseen trip to the clink there was no question who was going to take over. Even so it was a bloody time for anyone who made their living from the streets. Despite all that plagued the city Rory found something he never expected to, love. Not to say he did not love his own wife, he did in a way, but he was never _in_ love with her. Their marriage was one to strengthen his own claim to power, she was a good woman but she didn't hold his heart. She more than likely felt the same, having been raised within the life too.

Madison was everything Rory was not. She was kind, tolerant, and more forgiving that anyone he'd ever met. Maybe she'd taken her Catholic upbringing to heart, he'd never found out. He hadn't intended to get her pregnant, he didn't want her to live in the muck and the blood with him. Though she was willing. Her life was one of college courses in sociology and working in the soup kitchen every Sunday afternoon. The first decent thing Rory had ever done was push her away. In the end it hadn't mattered.

* * *

The skin on Javier's knuckles was starting to burn. He'd been standing outside Kevin's apartment floor for just over fifteen minutes ceaselessly drumming the back of his fist against the door. A normal guy would've gave up by now, Javi was just in a state of teetering panic and annoyance. The key he once had was requested back the day Jenny announced they were looking for a place together. Javier thought it weird they hadn't officially done that already but he also distinctly remembered a rehearsal dinner with Jenny's Grandmother screaming something about "living in sin", not that he was complaining, the opposite in fact. Losing his place in Kevin's life…well, that was a little melodramatic. Javier stopped knocking to try his partner's cell one more time, wondering to himself if that was true or not. Was he losing his place in Ryan's life? Maybe his spot on his couch but surely just because the guy was married and looking for a new place with the girl didn't mean he was any less important to his best friend, right? He shrugged it off and stopped the voicemail from playing again as he hadn't gotten through this time either.

The time was ten in the morning. Kevin hadn't shown up for work, hadn't called, and wasn't home. Something was very wrong. Javi knew Kevin had been dealing with something but waited too long to press the issue, he should have. He _knew_ he should've. Rather than pick the lock Javi went to the first floor to ask the landlady to open Kevin's door. She was a middle aged woman not yet in the business long enough to let it sour her opinion of people and she already knew Javier. His worry for his friend easily drifted on to her and she hurriedly found the spare and opened Kevin's place up to him.

All was as it should have been. Nothing was broken or scattered around, Kevin wasn't really a neat freak but he was tidy within his own system of doing things. Javi noted Ryan's coat and shoes were not in their usual places before checking the bedroom, hoping maybe Kevin caught a bug on the way home and forgot to call in. These days the blonde was more susceptible to chills, Javier had noticed that, every time he did a nameless rage seethed inside him until Kevin shot him a smile and all that directionless emotion dissipated in a flash.

Standing alone in the empty apartment, Javier muttered, "_Fuck._"

* * *

Gates, sadly, almost expected events to periodically go haywire where Beckett and Castle were involved. Organizing a search for detective Ryan was certainly not something she'd expected to be doing anytime soon. She saw him as one of her more dependable detectives, even with his superstitious side, he was always on time and followed the rules. As a Captain she couldn't ask for anything more though Ryan often delivered more. He was a good cop—knew how to handle himself in high-stress situations. She was confident they would find him safe and soon.

"What was detective Ryan working on when he disappeared?" Gates asked Beckett.

"The Murphy/O'Ryan case. The bodies that turned up looked like Mob retaliation. I assigned Esposito and Kevin to pull out all the stops to find Rory O'Ryan after they cleared the last crime scene while we," Beckett gestured between herself and Castle, "went to talk to Murphy." Her voice was hard and her eyes distant, despite herself a twinge of guilt crept into her cadence.

Gates crossed her arms, "And what did he have to say?" Understanding all the facts, she reasoned, would help locate Ryan.

"Nothing that would indicate his involvement."

"Other than being generally shifty." Interjected Castle.

Beckett shifted and held back a stern look toward Castle, "Espo's on the ground with uniforms. We haven't had any new information on O'Ryan surface, the guy's gone deep underground and I'm not entirely convinced Murphy doesn't know anything about that."

"Alright, I want eyes on Murphy, get the tech unit up here to see if we can't get a signal off Ryan's cell."

"Sir? I want to suggest having an unmarked car at Jenny's, Ryan's wife, house."

"I agree. In the meantime work the Rory O'Ryan angle, talk to Murphy again."

A throat cleared behind them, standing in the doorway of Gate's office was a fresh-faced detective with a phone pressed to his ear.

"Yes?" asked Gates with a raise of her brow.

"A patrol car found a cell phone in the search area around detective Ryan's home. They think it's his."

* * *

"JESUS CHRIST DAD! You can't just fucking do things like this, I'mma fucking _cop_."

"Lord's fucking name, Kevin."

Kevin threw his hands up in utter disbelief, slumping forward on the bar counter. The seasickness wasn't helping his mood. Rory had "firmly suggested" he come with him to his boat for a chat, promising to buy him a new phone after making him toss his old one. For most that would have sent up a red flag but considering the circumstances it was expected. The boat, at least, was a very nice one named "The Morrigan". More like a small yacht with a full bar and master bedroom, there was enough food to last about three months and the lights of the shore had become a distant fire before he knew which way was up. Rory had always been good at making you look in one direction while he dragged you in another.

"And I already told you, son, this is for your own good. I can't keep you safe if you're out there running around like a target. I don't know how that bastard found out about you but he did." Rory spread his hands in a placating manner. The older man had rolled up his dress shirt sleeves to his elbows just as Kevin did, the two side by side showed a startling symmetry between father and son.

"I can take care of myself." Kevin nearly growled.

His father smiled unsympathetically, "Of course you can." He moved to sit next to Kevin, "But I think you underestimate the amount of danger we face. Your brother is on the mainland acting as my…overseer, things are getting decidedly more complicated I'm afraid."

Kevin's brow furrowed, "What's going on?"

"Put simply: a hostile takeover. Very hostile. There are those out there who want to see a regime change, they've spared no expense in doing so. I've been expanding the business into Boston and that's left us vulnerable to an incursion here, it was a risk I knew but…" Rory shrugged leaving the details to Kevin's imagination.

"The department will have the cavalry out looking for me you know. They're my friends, they won't stop."

"Would you've rather I'd alerted your Captain to your heritage? Have you suspended, every case you've ever worked come into question, ruin the life you've so steadfastly clung to?" Rory's words were laced with unvoiced thunder. Matching blue eyes locked, the tension was that of years of arguments that were never fought and words that were never said. A line had been drawn when Kevin was growing up, the moment he looked at a badge and decided he would never be like his father was unfortunately the moment Rory looked at his son and thought this was the only heir he had that could truly handle the empire he'd created.

* * *

Kevin O'Ryan was born on a Tuesday, it was raining. Three months later his mother, Madison, was gunned down while walking home from the grocery store. She'd run low on formula and was trying her hand at cooking rhubarb pie. Rumor was she was Rory O'Ryan's whore. Rumor was all it took. Kevin Ryan was born on a Wednesday, it was raining.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**The Ties that Bind**

4

"Adam and Cain just had a terrible father figure."

Kevin wished he was a better swimmer. City kids had access to swimming facilities but he when was one of them that he believed firmly it was one of the more useless things to learn. He wasn't fond of being surrounded by that much water, hated boats and anything boating related. What it came down to was a fear of drowning so profound Kevin still had nightmares about it (actually being almost drowned in ice-cold water didn't do anything to help). So the idea of jumping overboard and swimming to shore was probably the most short-lived idea he ever had. Instead he drank all the top shelf liquor and went through all the evidence in head, comparing to the stories Rory was telling him, and finding a few things wanting. One why have Murphy's runner killed? The act didn't feel like simple relation. Rory said he didn't know anything about that; it must have been someone lower down the ladder trying to make a name for himself in these turbulent times. The older man could be lying of course but catching him in a lie was like trying to fix global warming with an air conditioner. Kevin's gut told him there was more going on and maybe this time Rory didn't actually know. Hiding anything now would just be so pointless. Maybe he couldn't swim home but he could get a phone and call Javi. His time undercover taught him some pretty damn useful tricks, it would be like riding a bike, hopefully. That Javier was the first person he thought to call didn't occur to him.

Including Kevin there were four people on The Morrigan, Rory captained the vessel himself, and with him were two of his personal trigger men. The two men could have been any blue collar dock worker with families to feed and love for good Irish whiskey but the bulge of their shoulder holsters betrayed that. Neither of them paid too much mind to Kevin, they were to protect him too if need be but mostly their eyes were on the distant shore. One sported a shiny new burner phone that had rang only a few times, Rory had his own that played a Bach number every hour on the hour—he always left Kevin alone to take the calls. So his best bet was thug number one, whose name was actually Gary which wasn't very villainous at all, when he swapped positions with thug number two on deck for the night.

Kevin stepped out on deck next to Gary, unassuming as possible which wasn't very hard—once his old boss was skeptical about him going undercover, saying he had the face that made people want to serve him tea rather than punch which was what they were going for.

"Kinda looks like New York is on fire from here doesn't it?" He said in a listless tone.

Gary's eyebrows found their way up his forehead but other than that the man simply shrugged. With an exaggerated sigh Kevin put his hand out for the other man to shake only to pull him into a quick hug when Gary grasped his hand.

"Thanks for being there, man." Kevin said seriously before walking off leaving Gary stunned and incredibly uncomfortable. He didn't notice that his cell phone was no longer in his jacket pocket.

Kevin practically ran to the bathroom back inside the cabin. He cursed every beep the buttons made, they seemed louder than artillery fire inside the small room. The resulting wait while the phone rang had him holding his breath.

"'Ello?", Came an irritated voice, Esposito's voice, though the connection poor out on the water.

Hearing his partner's voice calmed Kevin down, it gave him the feeling of _everything's going to be alright Javi's got my back_.

"Javier! I'm—" He was cut off by a sudden lurching of the boat making him accidently drop the phone in the near shower. Kevin heard sharp yelling outside and then sounds he knew by heart: gunshots.

* * *

Beckett made Castle go home to get a few hours of sleep. There wasn't a lot he could do to help with the actual search for Ryan, he did help further the original case though. The shot-callers of the Murphy family, including Murphy himself were dead. Castle and Esposito had been together when they found out about that, it went something like this:

"You know, I'm a writer, I know things, I watch people—"

"Creepy."

"Whatever," Castle was helping the detective comb files concerning the rival families and not truly paying attention to Javier. He was just sort of talking out their thoughts the way some authors do. "Point is, you've been carrying a torch for Ryan the size of—"

"A burning building?"

"Well I was going to say the sun." He looked to Espo then, who had a scowl on his face and had just put down his cell.

"No idiot. Beckett just texted me, someone reported a fire. One of Murphy's places, he's dead." It took an extra crispy mob boss to get Castle off the love connection topic. He wasn't doing it to be a dick, quite the contrary. Sometimes people just needed that little extra push, a loving underhanded while under immense stress push. And Castle was their guy.

No one's seen a mass cleansing of a mob family like this since the old days. They had been wrong, this hadn't been retaliation killings this had been a take-over, Castle was the first to notice. He also took notes. Only the lowest of the low from Murphy's crew got out and the cops had exactly zero of them in custody. Not that anyone expected them to talk.

In Castle's absence the precinct remained busy. Ryan had a lot of friends, he was good to people, funny, very few weren't willing to work through the night for their brother in arms. Esposito was of course one of them, himself, Beckett, and Gates were currently in the tech room after Espo came barreling through Gate's office nearly taking out couple of rookies with a phone in his hand and his jaw set so tight his enamel was silently screaming.

The phone Kevin used was still on letting them trace it. Boats were mobilized and Espo was the first one out the door. Castle had just reached his door when he was told to turn heels to the harbor.

* * *

Kevin thought that after being at this end of a gun so many times he should be used to it, he really wasn't. Gary, and thug number two were floating dead out into the ocean with an almost matching set of gunshot wounds to the chest, auras of red surrounded them in the salty water. Finn's boy was fond of the sawed-off he held easily resting on his shoulder. Finn was Kevin's half-brother, his father's "overseer" while they were supposed be hiding out. Thinking not for the first time: his family was fucked up. He said so out loud earning him an admonishing look from his father which really shouldn't hold any power but somehow did. His dad had been correct in that there was a hostile takeover, he'd just been wrong on what side it was coming from—his own.

Father and son kneeled side by side, Finn stood before them at ease in his betrayal.

"You know, Kevin, I asked Da here to keep you out of this, let you be. You should know that. Personally I didn't want a copper's blood on my hands but here you are anyway, because Rory always have to have way. Well, me and the boy's agree—it's time for some new management." Finn hissed the last word between his teeth.

Rory looked as calm as the night sky above them, "And this is how you're going to do that, son?"

"_You_ don't get to call me that!" Finn growled. Where Rory and Kevin were fair, Finn was dark. The way he slicked back his black hair and wore his suit were the only resemblances he had to his own father, he looked like his mother who herself was half-Irish half-Italian known to the "family" as "Hell in High Heels". Rory had made his son start from the bottom, made his struggle like he did to gain some insight and some character. Finn thought it was all bullshit and lucky for him no matter what his dad told him the guys always treated him like an heir. But Rory, _Rory_ treated a goddamned cop like his heir. Finn was fucking done. If no one else would take down the old man he would have to himself, and now here he was leveling his Glock at his father's head.

Finn didn't waste his time explaining his action to the two like a Bond villain, he had that going for him at least. But he was overconfident in the way young made men were, he should have bound his intended victims because no one just sits there waiting to get shot no matter how ready they were to meet their maker. Kevin leapt at him from the side, Rory went after the saw-offed in the same manner only Finn's guard saw him coming and was able to clip him in the shoulder, Rory dropped. Kevin struggled with Finn, the two were equally matched, they turned together and gun went off hitting his own man in stomach. Finn pushed Kevin hard letting go of the gun making Kevin stumble back with it. Finn went for the now ownerless shotgun and by the time they were both recovered they both held weapons at each other.

"Put it down, Finn!" Kevin ordered, a brief look of uncertainty flashed across his half-brother's face but was quickly replaced by a look Kevin knew well.

Two brothers took aim and shot at each other.

Finn fell lifeless by his guard. Kevin stood with his back rigid and his hands shaking. Search lights lit up behind him, growing closer as the speed boats gained distance. Kevin dropped the gun as if the weapon had turned molten; he went to his father's side to check on his wound. He'd lost a lot of blood and couldn't feel his fingers but he was still conscious, other than the prerequisite medical questions they didn't speak to one another.

It wasn't until Javier dragged Kevin up from the deck and the tightest hug of his life that he noticed the blood all over his hands.

tbc

A/N: This story is wrapping up pretty soon, thank you all for reviews and interest in this story! *throws flower crowns* Seriously though, you guys are great. *throws more flower crowns*


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